Reinforced plastic button



Aug. 24, 1943. D. s. HART ETAL 2,327,521

REINFORCED PLASTIC BUTTON Filed Sept. 6, 1940 mwc'wfom:

Dav id S. .7[ari, Jldelkezt' .D. Czgonk with a bore which is slightly greater in diameter than the opening 5 in the metal vise. Thus, the prong of the tack will never contact with the relatively thin circular plastic walls of the hub, as if it did, it might tend to split either the hub or the button head itself. The vise has a top 6, so that .the. end of, the prong l of a tack fastener 8, when driven up into the vise, will be deformed, as Clearly shown in Fig. 4 to thus prevent its withdrawal and to hold the button firmly in its attached position.

The cap or top 6 of the vise 5 being located about centrally of the depth of the head permits a relatively thick layer of plastic above the top of the vise to thus enable theplastic button to better withstand the force of the impact When the tack is deformed Within the vise.

It; will be understood that during the attaching operation, there is a plunger (not shown) having a cavity conforming to the arcuate surface of the button head which fits over the button head, so that whenthe button is forced downwardly and the tack is driven up through the cloth 9 into the vise of the button, the button head is held in a backed-up position.

- Referring now to'the structure which makes it possible to orient the button in a special button-orienting and attaching machine, it will be noticed that the hub 2 is flatted on its one side, as at I0, and on its opposite side, as at II, while extending parallel with the flats is a cut-away portion or notch I2 to form what We term an aligning wall I3. It will be noticed that the width of the bottom of the notched portion I2 is about; the same as the thickness of the circular wall of the hub, so that there is no thin upstanding fin or wall on the hub where the notch or step cuts across the circular walls of the hub (Fi 2).

The insignia 3 which, in the present instance, consists of the words Big Mac bears a definite relation with respect-to the flats on the hub and the aligning wall on the end of the hub, and in this case, the aligning wall and flats appear at an angle of twenty degrees (20) from a vertical line drawn through the center of the button, as shown in Fig. 1. The purpose of this is that the chute (not shown) leading -froma hopper of the button-attaching machine also extends at an angle of "twenty degrees (20) from a line drawn through the-center of thehopper and the attaching-station. Therefore, by providing this compensating twenty-degree angle for the aligning wall and flats on the hub, when the buttons are attached "the insignia will be in a true horijacent the wall I! and, most important, the eccentric aligning wall I3 of the notch I2 registering with the wall I8, which latter is a defining part of the groove I5.

It will be remembered that the button is in an inverted position when in the hopper and then passes down the chute (not shown) where it is turned over rightside up,-so that the reading matter of the insignia 3 will be in the position as shown in Fig. 1.

When the button is formed in this manner, that is, with the aligning wall and the flats on the hub, the button can only pass through the hopper, due to the aligning wall, in one oriented position, while the flats, in turn, will hold the button in its properly oriented position as it travels down to the attaching station. Thus, when the button is finally attached, the insignia will be in its true horizontal readable position.

The buttons, of course, will be made in molds having a plurality of die cavities but the manner of molding the buttonsforms no part of the present invention.

By forming the button head in the manner above-illustrated and described, it will be seen that a relatively inexpensive, strong plastic button is obtained which will withstand the usage to which it is to be put and will also withstand the shock from the attaching operation without in any way damaging the button.

Furthermore, the button head with its insignia may be properly oriented, so that the reading matter is always in the desired alignment.

Finally, it will be understood that a diiferent form of vise might be molded within the button, but we have found the one illustrated to be very satisfactory.

Many slight changes might be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

An orientatable reinforced plastic button head of the tack fastener type including a centrally located hollow hub, the button headhaving a centrally located internal chamber of larger diameter than the diameter of-the hub and the hollow hub registering with said chamber, reinforcing means within said chamber and partially filling the hollow hub, said reinforcing means in said chamber adapted to receive and deform a tack fastener, said hub having flats on the opposite external sides thereof and extending throughout the depth of the hub, a portion of the lower end of the peripheral wall of the hub being omitted just below the lower end of the reinforcing means andon one side of the hub to form an aligning wall parallel to said flats, and the aligning wall extending tangentially to the internal defining wall of the hub, and indicia on the face of the button head extending at an, angle to the flats and the said aligning wall. I

- DAVID s. HART. 

